Window structure having double hung sashes that are balanced,slidable,swingable and removable



H. J. HENDRA March 3, 1970 3,497,999 vmmow STRUCTURE HAVING DOUBLE HUNG SASHES THAT v ARE BALANCED, SLIDABLE, SWINGABLE AND REMOVABLE Filed June 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MEE March 3, 1970 WINDOW STRUCTURE HAVING DOUBLE HUNG.SASHES THAT H. J. HENDRA 3,497,999

ARE BALANCED, SLIDABLE, SWINGABLE AND REMOVABLE Filed June 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A0 ,19 22 /IOI9\ 22 22 1/ 27 \\\L\\ 28 l Q s w...

Q m l 2 lE-f- FIE-S- W/M United States Patent Int. Cl. Eiisd /22 US. Cl. 49149 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A double hung window structure wherein the upper and lower sashes contain within their stiles tubular spiral balances one end of each balance projects outside the sash and is fitted with a socket. The two sockets of each sash swing on pins suitably located in the jambs of the window frame which have vertical steps fitted with guide rails on which the sashes slide when in the normal vertical position.

The upper sash slides on the inner vertical steps and is narrower in width than the lower sash which slides on the guide rails of the vertical steps located in the front of the window frame.

The narrower width of the upper sash allows it to clear the guide rails of the lower sash when being swung out of the frame.

The balances of the lower sash have an upward pull and are suspended from swing pins located in the tops of the front vertical steps of the window jambs the balances of the upper sash have an upward push and are supported on swing pins located in the bottoms of the back vertical steps of the window jambs in which the guide rails for the upper sash are located.

At the ends of the top rail of the upper sash are fitted swing pins which latch into holes located in the bottom rail of the lower sash when the sashes are swung out of the window frame, this operation makes the sashes selfsupporting when swung out of the frame to obtain full area of the windows for extra ventilation.

By swinging the sashes fully down it is possible to clean the outside of the sashes from inside the room which operation is not possible with the standard type of double hung window. I

The balance sockets of the lower sash have hook type ends that fit over the swing pins in the jambs and the sash when fully raised lock onto the sockets which prevents the balances from unwinding when complete with the sash is removed from the frame.

This same operation applies to the upper sash but the sockets have forked ends which can be slid off the swing pins located in the bottoms of the inner vertical steps in which the sash is located.

The foregoing is a summary of the invention described in more detail in the following specification.

A sliding double hung sash type window construction and more particularly the manner in which sashes are balanced and are slidably, swingably and removably mounted in a window frame.

The conventional double hung sash window has the upper and lower sashes mounted for vertical movement in channels formed in the stiles of the window frame and the sashes are usually balanced by means of helical spring balances. This type of balance is herewith briefly described: The helical spring which has a left-hand turn is contained inside the tubular portion of the balance and extends the full length of the tube and being fixed at one end. At the other end of the helical spring and enclosed and fixed to its inner diameter is a sleeve with 3,497,999 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 an inner rectangular slot in which slides the other portion of the balance which comprises a flat rod with a helical right-hand turn throughout its entire length which is similar in length to that of the tubular portion of the balance. At the end of the rod that projects outside the tubular portion of the balance is afiixed a small attachment to anchor the rod to the bottom of the channel in the stile of the sash and in which vertical channel the balance tube slides. The complete balance is installed in the window as follows: The top end of the balance tube is fixed to the top of the stile of the window frame and in the channel in which the sash vertically slides and in the vertical slot in the stile of the sash. The outer end of the spiral rod is fastener to the bottom of the sash thereby locating the spiral rod vertically in the channel and in alignment with tubular portion of the balance. Before fixing the lower end of the balance spiral rod it is given a number of right-hand turns in the slotted sleeve which is fixed to the helical spring in the balance tube. This turning of the rod winds up the helical spring and the tension developed exerts an internal pull on the rod, the number of turns of the rod together with the turns of the rod of the balance at the other end of the sash must create sufficient upward pull to balance the weight of the sash.

It will be seen that this type of balancing of the sashes has a fixity that precludes any possible arrangement for swinging out or removal of the sashes which are confined to a vertical sliding movement.

As afore-mentioned the helical spring of this particular type of balance has a left-hand turn and when wound up clock-wise the tension created pulls the rod into the balance tube, the rod having a right-hand turn. If the rod had a left-hand turn and was wound up clock-wise in the balance the tension created would tend to push the rod out of the balance tube, furthermore if the balance tube was fixed to the bottom of the stile of the window frame and the other end of the rod was fixed to the top of the sash the weight of the sash would be balanced by adjusting the tension of the two balances fitted to the sash which would give a push up movement to the sash, by suitably fastening the top ends of the balance tubes of the lower sash to pivot pins suitably located in the channels of the stiles of the window frame in which the sash vertically slides and in a similar manner fix the lower ends of the balance tubes of the upper sash to the bottom of the channels of the stiles of the window frame and in which channels the upper sash vertically slides, it is possible to swing out the sashes from the window frame.

Furthermore by swinging out the sashes and suitably supporting them in this position it is possible to utilize the full area of the window frame for ventilation instead of the present area for double hung windows which is less than one half of the window frame area due to overlapping of the upper and lower sashes.

The present invention contemplates a window frame to which fixed and pivoting rail sections are secured to co-act with the sash for efficient vertical sliding movement and lateral stability of the sash and to facilitate the swinging out of the sash or its removal from the window frame by means of the pivoting sections of the rails herein-after to be set forth in detail.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means to quickly and easily remove the sashes from the window frame without the assistance of tools of any kind, another object of the invention is to provide means to utilize the entire area encompassed by the window frame for ventilating purposes. Another object of the invention is to swing out the two sashes, latch them together and swing them down to a lower level so that the outsides of the sashes can be easily cleaned from inside the room without having to support them by hand. Another object of the invention is to provide means to balance the weight of the sashes so that they can be raised or lowered to any position in the window frame.

With the above noted and other objects which may appear as the description proceeds, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation sectional left-hand view of a window constructed according to my invention. This front view shows the upper and lower sashes in the closed position.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation sectional right-hand view of the window with the sashes in the extreme open position and the sashes locked to their respective balance sockets.

FIGURE 3 is a right-hand elevation end view of the window with the right-hand stile of the window frame removed showing the sashes closed also shown are the screens installed in the frame.

FIGURE 4 is a left-hand elevation end view of the window with the left-hand stile of the window frame removed showing the centre guide rails attached to the righthand stile and the sashes latched together and swung out of the window frame.

FIGURE 5 is a similar view as FIG. 4 but shows the sashes latched together and lowered for cleaning.

FIGURE 6 is a scrap view of the sashes latched together.

FIGURE 7 is a scrap view of the lower sash in the position for removing same from the window frame.

FIGURE 8 is a scrap cross section view of the left-hand frame stile with the sashes in their respective guide rails.

FIGURE 9 is a scrap cross section view of the left stile of the window frame showing the pivotal pins that support the sashes when mounted in the window frame.

Referring more in detail to the drawings it will be seen that the invention consists of a conventional window frame insofar as it is related to the casing or architrave and building construction to the end that it readily lends itself to present production practices and that the window frame and the sashes can be made either of metal or wood.

The frame may be of any height or width desired and consists of the usual head 10, stiles 11 and sill 12 in which the upper sash 13 and the lower sash 14 are mounted for vertical movement.

The stiles are formed with a vertical step that provides a channel for the lower sash 14. In the lower half of this channel rails 26 are affixed in each stile 11, the said rails extend up the stiles a distance less than the height of the sash for a purpose here-in-after explained.

The upper vertical rails 28 for giving lateral stability to the lower sash 14, when in the raised position are formed by the balances 15 the upper ends of which are fitted into the pivotal sockets 19 which are supported by their hook type heads on pivot pins 21 which are secured in the tops of the vertical channels of the stiles 11 of the window frame.

Below the hook portions of the sockets 19 are horizontal sliding pins 22 the purpose of which when in the pushed in position is to prevent the sockets 19 from lifting off the pivot pins 21 when the lower sash 14 is being raised, the clearance between the bottoms of the pins 22 and the flat faces of the sockets 19 on which the pins 22 slide is to allow the sash when fully raised to clear the ends of the lower guide rails 28 thereby allowing the sash to be swung out of the window frame.

To completely remove the lower sash 14 from the window frame the sliding pins 22 are pulled back into the sockets 19 thereby allowing the hooks of the sockets to clear the tops of the pivot pins 21 when the sash is fully raised and the bottom rail of the sash is clear of the top ends of the lower guide rails 28. In this position the sash is free of the window frame.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the balances 15 operate with an upward pull on the lower sash 14, due to the spiral rods 17 of the balances having a right-hand helix and that when the sash is fully raised the pins 26 located on the top ends of the lower sash engage with recesses on the bottoms of the sockets 19 thereby preventing the balances 15 from unwinding when they together with the lower sash are withdrawn from the window frame.

The balances 16 attached to the upper sash 13 function differently to the balances attached to the lower sash 14 in that they exert an upward push to the upper sash 13 due to the spiral rods 18 of balances 16 having a left-hand helix and it is this opposite functioning of the balances 15 and 16 that makes possible the swinging out of the sashes from the window frame.

The balances 16 are fitted into the sockets 20 the ends of which are forked allowing the sockets to fit over the pivot pins 21.

When the upper sash is fully lowered it is clear of the lower ends of the centre upper guide rails 28 and the sash is then in position to be swung out or removed from the window frame.

To prevent the sockets 20 from lifting off the pivot pins 21 located at the bottom of the stiles of the window frame, pins 29 engage with recesses in the sockets 20 when sash is fully lowered. The latches 25 located at each end of the bottom rail of the sash 13 engage with recesses in inner faces of the sockets 20 and when so engaged prevents the balances 16 from detachment with the sash by the upward thrust of sprial rods 18 also when the latches and sockets are so engaged the balances are prevented from unwinding thus preserving the necessary tension in the balances when sash complete with balances is removed from window frame, between latch pins and the recesses in the sockets there is a vertical clearance space when they are latched together this clearance allows the sash to be slightly raised after latching so that the top of the sash is re-engaged with the bottoms of the centre upper guide rails 28, in this position the sash is prevented from tilting out of the window frame when the lower sash 14 is being swung out 'firstly from the window frame.

The latching together of the two sashes when in the swung out position is performed in the following manner, attached to the ends of the top rail of the upper sash 13 are latch pins 23 which can be swung back over the top rail of the sash when sash is swung out of window frame. The lower sash 14 has latch holes at both ends of the bottom rail which are in alignment with the latch pins 23 and when engaged the swung out sashes become self supporting and in this position afford a ventilating area equal to the full area of the window frame.

To clean the outside of the sashes from inside the room the latched swung out sashes are lowered until the upper sash 13 is resting on the top edge of the weather strip of the bottom sill 12 of the window frame, in this position it is possible to clean the complete window from inside the room.

The removal of the sashes from the window frame is performed in the following manner. The upper sash 13 is fully pulled down latched and slightly raised to reengage with guide rails 28 the lower sash 14 socket pins 22 are pulled out and the sash completely raised thereby engaging the pins 26 with the recesses in the bottoms of the balance sockets 19' in this fully raised position the socket hooks are clear of the pivot pins 21 and the sash can then be removed from the window frame. After removing lower sash 14 the upper sash 13 is fully lowered swung out and slid off the pivot pins 21 and the sash is then removed from the window frame.

The screens or storm windows 27 shown in FIG. 13 have projecting side pins at the tops and bottoms of the frames the pins being a sliding fit in the channels 32 located in the stiles 11 of the window frame.

To install or remove the screens or storm windows from the window the sashes 13 and 14 are latched and swung down as shown in FIG. 5. The screens or storm windows can then be passed side-ways between the sashes and the window frame. The first frame to be entered is tilted so that the bottom side pins are entered into the channel 32 and lowered until the top pins can be passed through the side slots 31 and the frame lowered until it rests on the sill 12 of the window frame. The second frame is entered in a similar manner but slid upward until the bottom pins can be entered through the channel 32 the frame is then lowered until it rests on the bottom frame. In this position the bottom side pins are below the side slots 31 and both frames are thereby locked in position.

To remove the screens or storm windows the aforementioned operations are reversed.

It will be seen from the description and drawings that the sashes can be withdrawn from the window frame without disturbing the existing calibration of the balances in the sashes.

My invention illustrated and described shows a double hung window of great improvement and versatility over the present type of double hung windows together with an improved window balance which not only balances the sashes but also performs other functions as described in the aforementioned written description of a sliding and swinging window structure having sashes that can be lifted out of the window frame entire with their calibrated balances.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows:

1. A window frame and sash construction comprising a frame formed of a head, jambs and sill, said jambs having stepped vertical inner faces, upper and lower sashes engageable in adjacent steps, a vertically disposed rail fixedly disposed in each step adjacent top and bottom ends respectively thereof and having a length less than the length of the associated sash, each sash having a vertical channel in the stiles thereof within which said fixed rail engages and also accommodating a tubular spiral spring sash balance pivotally secured at one end to a jamb at the end opposite from the fixed rail of said respective step, said pivotal securement being aligned with the rail, whereby each sash is adapted to be moved clear of the respective fixed rail and then swung outwardly about the pivotal securements to the frame, the lower sash having balances exerting an upward pull, the upper sash having balances exerting an upward push, the balances for the lower sash having hook type upper ends that hook over and are pivotally secured on pins located in the respective channel of the window frame and adjacent the top of the jambs, the balances for the upper sash having forked type lower ends that slip fit over and are pivotally secured on pins suitably located adjacent the bottom of the second step of the window jambs, the upper and lower sashes when moved out of engagement with said fixed rails being swung out of the window frame and latched together by means of swing pins located on the top rail of the upper sash and latched in holes located in the bottom rail of the lower sash, the sashes being removable by lifting said sashes entirely with their balances oif their respective support pins.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,744,394 1/1930 Lewis 49-151 2,212,114 8/1940 Dieslelkamp 16147 2,305,275 12/1942 Pyle et al. 49-446 X 2,986,771 6/1961 Martin 49-446 X DENNIS L. TALYOR, Primary Examiner 

